Sidney Crosby

Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic has matched up against Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby every time the two have played each other as professionals, and even for a short spell as teenagers when both of them were in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

With the biggest games in Sharks franchise history on the horizon, that probably won’t change now.

“If you give him any time and space, he’ll make plays,” Vlasic said of Crosby. “If you’re in his face all the time, bump him, gap up on him. It’s not necessarily going to frustrate him, but he’s going to know you’re there and he won’t be able to make plays. If he does, he’ll make you look silly.”

Justin Braun’s elbow infection is improving but he will still miss a third straight game when the Sharks host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at SAP Center.

Braun took part in his first full practice Monday since he was diagnosed with the infection early last week. Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said after practice that Braun will not play against the Penguins, although he felt the defenseman “would be back sooner rather than later.” Continue Reading →

Searching for their fifth straight win on this road trip, the Sharks are making some adjustments to their forward lines and to one combination on defense for their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday at Consol Energy Center.

Joonas Donskoi moves up to the second line with Patrick Marleau and Joel Ward, Nikolay Goldobin draws back in as he’ll skate on the third line with Tomas Hertl and Tommy Wingels, and Matt Nieto is back on the fourth line with Chris Tierney and Mike Brown.

The Sharks are a dismal 1-7-2 in their last 10 home games. Weird as it sounds, maybe a visit from Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins can help San Jose get this four-game homestand going in the right direction.

In March of last year when the Sharks hosted the Penguins, Crosby had no points, one shot on goal in 21 minutes, and a minus-5 rating in a 5-3 Sharks win. Crosby has one assist in four career games in San Jose, and the Penguins are 0-9-2 at the Tank since 1997.

Crosby figures it’ll be difficult to top his last performance at SAP Center.

“I remember, coming back, what the last game was like,” Crosby said Monday. “I’m hoping it’s pretty tough to go minus-5 and then go minus-6 the next time.”

The last time the Penguins won in San Jose, Darryl Sutter was in his first year as the Sharks coach, Patrick Marleau was a rookie and Jaromir Jagr was in only in his eighth NHL season. He has a goal and two assists in that 5-2 Pens win over the Sharks in Oct. 1997.

“I don’t have any way to explain it. I don’t think anybody could if they tried,” Crosby said of the losing streak. “We’ll see what happens. But you have to give yourself a chance here. Just make sure you weather the storm early, they usually come out pretty hard. That first goal would be nice, try to give yourself some momentum.”

The Sharks will be desperately searching for two points Monday night, but it’ll have to come against one of the best defensive teams in the NHL in the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yes, those Pittsburgh Penguins.

Under first-year coach Mike Johnston, the Penguins are allowing just 2.38 goals per game, third lowest in the NHL. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is having one of the best seasons in his career with a league-best nine shutouts in 51 games. He also carries a fifth-best 2.16 goals against average and an eighth-best .924 save percentage.

Pittsburgh was a sound defensive team last season as well, as it finished with a 10th-best 2.49 goals against average. But the Penguins were also tied for 14th in 5 on 5 goals allowed with 150. This year, they’re fourth in the league with 105 goals given up 5 on 5 in 65 games so far.

“I think it’s been something we’ve been committed to all year, regardless of some of the scores,” the Pens’ Sidney Crosby said. “Our mentality has been to make sure that we take care of things in our own end, make sure that we’re structured. It doesn’t always work out perfectly. You’re going to give up goals, but we have been committed to it and it’s a pretty big reason why we’ve had success.”

The Penguins are also coming off a 2-0 shutout win over Anaheim on Friday and a 1-0 overtime win over Los Angeles on Saturday.

“Nine shutouts, that speaks volumes of his ability and how well he’s playing this season,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said Monday morning. “That’s Fleury, but that’s also a team mentality. When I talked to the group this morning, when you think Pittsburgh, you think dynamic, offensive players, one on one skill, power play, and they are that. But they haven’t given up very much.

“Because we play in a different conference and we haven’t seen them yet this year, our group had to be reminded of that.”